More serious problems face him at home. The civil service, normally docile and subservient, has told him bluntly where he got off. After the November 1999 general elections, he called in 250 senior civil servants to Putra Jaya to tell them what he wanted from them and to find out their views on the government. He got more than he bargained for. They told him bluntly what they thought of him, that he handled the Anwar affair badly, that they did not like his ways not the rampant corruption his long term in office spawned, with the civil service, from top to bottom, distancing themselves from his excoriation of the former deputy prime minister, now in Sungei Buloh prison. They did not like the deliberate isolation of those who did not support him wholeheartedly or, worse, suspected of being friendly, let alone support, He Who Must Be Destroyed At All Cost. The Prime Minister clearly did not expect what he got. The top ranks of the service, except those who back him wholeheartedly -- a figure one civil servant put at "one percent loyalists and about 10 per cent hangers-on", move away from him, and by extension his administration. This does not, of course, account for the large group of civil servants who would rather duck out of the discussion: but they would shift their support for survival when the Prime Ministerial ship sinks. Today, it is not unusual to find PAS and Keadilan members in this group. In the lower ranks, the PAS intrusion is so widespread that officers holding sensitive posts are ordered to deliver sensitive messages and files themselves.

UMNO cannot expect sympathy by pleading the moral high ground. The only way the opposition could challenge the government -- this still holds true -- is by guerrilla war. The government, dominated by UMNO, controls what the opposition can and cannot do, forces it into a frame of its own choice. For long, the opposition remained cowed and in search of a role. That is no more so. It controls two states, made almost every Malay parliamentary constituency marginal, despite its small number of MPs in the house. UMNO's mistakes, especially in how it humiliated its Prime Minister-to-be, Dato' Seri Anwar Ibrahim, coupled with its arrogance after 45 years of political control, finally forced the Malay cultural heartland to divest itself of UMNO as its cultural and political leader. UMNO members move in larger numbers to PAS than the other way around. I once attended a kenduri, before the November 1999 general elections, where the UMNO leadership of the area, whom I have known for decades, were all now with PAS. One unintended byproduct of the New Economic Policy is the division of those who benefitted into those who get special privileges and those who do not. And those who do not, even if in UMNO, do not support UMNO as wholeheartedly as they once did.

Last year, when the Prime Minister, opening the MCA convention, talked of a Chinese prime minister in the Malaysia of the future, he raised a sensitive racial issue. But it raised no eyebrows, even if the statement would have questioned both Malay Rights and Malay Dominance. So, why is UMNO Youth so incensed when an MCA politician and business partner of the Prime Minister's sister-in-law question the practice of Malay Rights as practiced? The National Front, before the November 1999 General Election, agreed to consider the Chinese organisations's electoral propsals. So why does UMNO Youth use this to manufacture this crisis? Is this yet another "sandiwara" -- the more famous one, in the last two months, is the Grik arms heist -- to enable UMNO to tell its Malay hinterland that they would not allow a diminution of Malay Rights under any circumstance? But would not Malay Rights be under attack should, as the Prime Minister envisages, a Chinese prime minister in the future? Where was UMNO Youth when that sentence was made?

A week ago, not even the Prime Minister would have recognised Dr Mohamed Khir Toyo if he stood in front of him. Today, he and his National Front leaders, with the mainstream newspapers in tow, could not praise him high enough, believe he is nothing short of a genius. Never mind that he came into the Selangor state assembly for the first time in the November 1999 general elections, and consigned to the anonymity awaiting first term state assemblyman. The newspapers have suddenly discovered a brilliant man who is out to paint the state red. That he comes from the poorest district gives hope, we are told, for the poor, not realising that in one fell swoop, it destroyed the National Front's credibility in ignoring this district in the 47 years it has controlled the state. As it happened, he was chosen to ensure he is clean as a whistle. He owes no political debts, except to the man who found him, the UMNO vice president and former mentri besar, Tan Sri Mohamed Taib. But the praises come unasked: UMNO Youth is tickled pink that one of its executive committee, elected two months ago, is its first mentri besar. His political naivete comes through soon enough. His first statements in office, sufficiently serious in keeping with his high office, shows him not his man but the puppet of a hidden dalang.

As I said, the MIC jumps on the bandwagon of electoral fund collection. Until recently, Dato' Seri Samy and his cabinet colleagues could only award contracts valued at under RM5 million, and that too after clearance from the Khazanah. But, now until 30 November, secretaries-generals can award contracts worth up to RM20 million without tenders called for. Allegedly, this is to ensure that the people's needs are taken care of. I am more inclined to believe that this would enable sizeable contributions to flow into the right election funds. Immediate money is required. I am prepared to wager that those who do get these contracts may find the contracts all but disappearing come 30 November 1999. Why is there this mad need for building amidst an impending general election, when for years these area have been studiously ignored? Political parties, in the government and opposition, depend on political contributions for their existence. The means to acquire them is messy: some signs of forced contributions is inevitable. Several companies in the past have irked at this unwelcome exactions, but that is the cost of doing business, one which cannot be ignored. In previous elections, the privatisation contracts worth billions of ringgit ensured a steady flow of funds, made all the more palatable with a judicious award of titles.

The Court of Appeal, meanwhile, postponed Dato' Seri Anwar's application for bail to next Saturday. The Court of Appeal president, Tan Sri Lamin Yunos, said the appeal would affect other appeals. The appeal is against a High Court ruling denying bail. Raja Aziz Addruse, Dato' Seri Anwar's counsel, said he understood the Public Prosecutor would oppose the appeal, citing a November 21 decision of the Court of Appeal in the case of Samad Abas and Another v The Public Prosecutor. It hinges around the amended definition of "decision" in the Court of Judicature Act, 1994, and which became effective on 1 August: "decision" is any judgement, sentence or order, but does not include any ruling made in the course of the hearing of any case or matter which does not dispose off the rights of the parties. Since bail is applied for within the larger case and which would not dispose off the rights of the parties, it becomes not a matter for appeal, a further dimunition of accused rights. The Court of Appeal fixed 5 December for the hearing.

Pak Lah (1364)   United States (636)   Straits Times (412)   Samy Vellu (224)   Putra Jaya (200)   Chief Justice (200)   Saddam Hussein (188)   Vincent Tan (164)   Civil Service (154)   Parti KeADILan (148)   Islamic State (118)   Johore Bahru (100)   Sungei Buloh (94)   Bukit Tinggi (88)   Abdul Razak (80)   Pengkalen Pasir (68)   Ting Pek (64)   Armed Forces (59)   Soviet Union (58)

Malay Dominance (58)   Yong Teck (56)   Hong Kong (56)   Human Rights (56)   Syed Hamid (54)   Puteri UMNO (52)   Islam Hadhari (52)   Royal Commission (51)   Hussein Onn (51)   Rafidah Aziz (48)   Indian Congress (48)   Open House (44)   Vision Schools (44)   Shah Alam (44)   Malay Unity (42)   Chua Jui (42)   Abdul Taib (42)   Ampang Jaya (36)   Ras Adiba (36)

Osama Bin Laden (36)   Nik Aziz Nik (20)   Ling Liong Sik (18)   Lee Kuan Yew (18)

High Court Judge (14)   Wan Azizah Wan (9)   Lim Kit Siang (9)   Megat Junid Megat (8)

Mahathir (2960)

Anwar (2399)